1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
„5 . boxe s
Page 40
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The reefer market is a place of expensive products and a furious pace of innovation. Steve McQueen reports.
You can't compete in the temperature-controlled
distribution sector without the right equipment—and it doesn't come cheap. According to Ron Camfield, sales and marketing director at Schmit2 Cargobull, the cost of a new temperature controlled trailer could be anything from about .£33,000 to £100,000.
It's a bit like asking how much it costs to buy a motor car," he explains. 'It depends on the specification. A £100,000 trailer would have moving decks hydraulics, multi-compartment bulkheads and all the widgets that you can think of The average selling band is somewhere rearer £33,000-55,000." And Camfield should know: Schmitz Cargobull claims to be the largest all-purpose trailer manufacturer in Europe.
Few temperature-controlled trailers or trucks are supplied as standard designs—operators can choose from an extensive wish list. Apart from issues such as the materials used in panel construction, the length, height and weight of the vehicle or trailer and any subsequent repair or maintenance requirements, a host of ancillary equipment issues need to be addressed.
"Talks include moving bulkheads and how they will be stowed, the tracking inside the traiier and whether they want fan-assisted kits," says Canfield. "Then there is internal protection and load security to consider. For example, do they have a roll cage operation? Do they need securing bars or straps, and should these be roof-mounted? We look at the rear doors, to see how they should be sealed— dual or single locking—and we would look at tracking and recording systems too."
Recording systems are often part of a package supplied with the refrigeration unit and they are increasingly 'intelligent'. For example, Thermo King units can be specified with its 'smart' reefer controller, the DAS data acquisition system.
This is designed to maintain accurate temperatures in each compartment. As any chilled product specialist will tell you, a difference of only 1"C over 24 hours reduces the shelf life of a lettuce by more than a day.
Storm Products provides a range of alternative monitoring solutions. Its temperature and event recorders range from low cost, in-cab units for small vans through to external recorders with printers for trailers and cold stores. These monitor multi-compartment temperatures and events such as door opening times and duration: data is stored for later analysis if any out of temperature condition' events are noted. The data can be taken from the recorder printer or collected via a hand held unit—or even via a modem and GSM download.
Prices are broad banded here, too. Recorders cost upwards from £300, but equipment with street-level mapping can cost £1.00.
External issues
There are also external issues to consider. Increasingly, the legislation includes environmental concerns but this area is also of concern to end users.
For example, Safeway has worked with its refrigeration system supplier, Carrier Transicold, on emissions and noise levels. Supply operations director Mark Aylwin says the use of fully synthetic oils in Carrier units helps reduce emissions and increase operational life. Carrier's Vector system also eliminates noise at source. That's essential when delivering to stores in built-up areas.
The all-electrical 9200W Vector is said to be the quietest unit in its class. It deliv. ers temperature pull-down from +30" to -20°C—twice as fast as c ventional units, says the company. diesel engine is already compliant with impending EC 97/68 regulations for er sions from off-road mobile equiprner semi-hermetic compressor reduces risk of refrigerant leak and increases reliability of this innovative unit.
Thermo King's latest innovator refrigeration units is the Spectrunseries of multi-temperature systems geted at trailers. It is said to del tighter temperature control, faster / down and recovery, increased fuel I ciency and lower maintenance costs.
Remote evaporators provide over li more capacity than Thermo King's sting units, with 25% more airflow i 10% more air velocity. Pull-down i recovery rates have implications fuel economy and emissions, even multi-drop work.
With a technically astute customer >e. vehicle and trailer manufacturers not afford to be blinkered about inds—dfferent badges appear on difent products roiling through the work)p doors. For example, Chereau ;ently supplied Spalding-based Fowler lob with 10 13.6m reefers featuring Ifi-stow internal bulkheads and ?rmo King refrigeration. When Witneywd Windrush Frozen Foods wanted a ution to its truck-based distribution )blems, Chereau supplied a mixture of ?rmo King and Carrier-badged units. The benefits of the right equipment i clearly seen in the Winclrush exam. The 6m bodies, equipped with triple ir doors and sliding side doors, mean (the company can now use its 14-ton's to deliver goods to premises previsly served only by 7.5-tonners. A sliding rnal bulkhead with pedestrian door i Carrier dual-evaporator refrigerati allows a selection of goods to be ked and delivered at the correct tern-ature at each drop.
Multi-compartment vehicle design 3 been overhauled in recent years to :er for the e-shopping sector. Tesco's rch for a home delivery vehicle signer and bodybuilder led it to JC vne in Aldridge. Payne's joint MD Mark tton explains: They provided us with wledge of their operation and the e of produce and container that they need to carry the shopping in, and we
designed a vehicle taking into accourt any operational constraints, such as loading and unloading, for example.
"The concept is based on a lightweight dry-freight box, with three compartments; one for ambient, and two separate compartments for chilled and frozen goods. The insulated panels are made from glass-reinforced plastic and the refrigeration units were built to meet Tesco specifications and supplied directly through Thermo King and another supplier, GAH."
Distribution system
Part of that fleet is based on the Mercedes Sprinter chassis, which was also the choice when Paneltex developed a hub-and-spoke distribution system for Waitrose's new home-delivery operation, Ocado. This uses modified 3.5-tonners equipped with multi-temperature demountable pods, carried six at a time to a 'spoke' on specially designed 13.6m trailers. Each pod is transferred to a Sprinter for the final delivery round, with six empties reloaded to maximise efficiency of equipment and drivers.
Budgens Teleshop vehicles supplied by Refrigerated Vehicles (RVL) have dualcompartment bodies for chilled and frozen products with 'Olivo' insulated boxes, located in the front chilled compartments for frozen foods and frozen ready meals. The dividing bulkheads can be fixed in one of two positions. RVL adds that Asda-®t-home vehicles also have removable lateral bulkheads to allow for a single-temperature operation if required.
Few discussions about food retailers, efficiency, and temperature-controlled operations exclude a reference to Marks 8i. Spencer. To satisfy its demands for efficiency, Gist Logistics is increasing its feet of Gray 84. Adams refrigerated twindeck semis. Gist engineering director Sam de Beaux explains that, although the first generation of double-deckers increased carrying capacity by 50%, they only carry chilled products on the upper deck, with ambient products on the lower deck. The latest trailers have chilled and ambient products on both decks. Mold moving internal bulkheads enable the creation of further compartments.
The temperature-controlled sector is heavily regulated, and manufacturers all work to keep one step ahead of the legislation. For example, RVL has recen%r established a special projects group drawing from the best ideas and techniques found overseas. This has already yielded moveable bulkheads featuring springs rather than gas struts. These require far less effort to move, which is an important health and safety innovation.
However, end users are also driving innovation. As a resift the pace of innovation and the cost of investment can only rise.